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Annotated 'Persuasion' is Kerri's book pick

Kerri Miller's book pick this week is "Persuasion" by Jane Austen. After nearly 200 years in print, the novel — which some consider Austen's best — is still worth reading, especially if you pick up a copy of the annotated version assembled by scholar Robert Morrison.

"This is a book that has been on my coffee table forever, Steph, and I love it and every now and then I open it and flip through it," Kerri said.

Morrison also produced an annotated edition of "Pride and Prejudice." Both volumes follow the same format: Commentary, notes and illustrations appear alongside the text, to make it easier for readers who want to look up obscure references or navigate a confusing scene.

The annotator explained the significance of "Persuasion" in an interview with the blog of Harvard University Press, his publisher:

"In terms of popularity and influence, there are other Austen novels that have received more attention than Persuasion. But I really do consider it her finest work. It has anurgency, a range, and a relevance that seem to me to place it above her five other novels, as superb as they all are in different ways. I have tried to highlight this passion and this depth. Julia Kavanagh, one of Austen's finest nineteenth-century critics, declares that in Persuasion 'we see the first genuine picture of that silent torture of an unloved woman, condemned to suffer thus because she is a woman and must not speak.'"

Stephanie also recommended Joe Sacco's "The Great War." The book, a graphic depiction of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, folds out as a panoramic drawing.